The Dragonfly
by bigfatcarp93 mk2
Summary: A series of side-stories running concurrently to the main series, exploring interpersonal reactions not shown in canon. Each Volume will be dedicated to a different pair of characters. Canon-compliant, unless it's contradicted later, in which case oh well I tried. NOT A SHIPPING/ROMANCE FIC. Will explore characters listed, plus numerous others.
1. Volume 1: Blake & Tukson (I)

Late at night under the light of a broken moon, an amazing change was occurring.

A tiny creature was slipping out of the water, taking hold of a reed to hoist itself up. Slowly, the nymph, a tiny, aquatic insect, began to crawl up the reed, out of the pond and into the cool night air. The nymph didn't move terribly fast- anyone asked to observe the climb would probably have been dreadfully bored- but it moved with determination, and inevitably, reached it's goal about halfway up the stalk.

The nymph sat still, clutching the plant. Something was occurring within it; it wasn't going to be a nymph for very long.

It took half an hour for the little insect to moult completely. Shedding it's old body, it clung to the vacant husk as a new creature, long and slender, soft and delicate, but soon to be a deadly predator in the world of the tiny, a swift and lethal carnivore.

A dragonfly had emerged.

By the time the sun was up, bathing the decorative pond in yellowish light, the dragonfly's body had finished it's transformation. The little one was now shrouded in a carapace, tough but light, and shining, iridescent green. It twitched a quartet of thin wings and took off, zooming through the morning air. It did one quick lap around the pond, circling the whole thing in mere seconds, before expanding it's horizons around the grounds of a mansion owned by some wealthy, Vale entrepenuer.

The dragonfly spent the day flying far and wide around the Kindgom of Vale, passing over and between buildings, zigzagging through parks, at one point even entering the open window of a moving car and emerging several blocks later.

The dragonfly's journey came to a temporary stop as it landed on something to rest. That something happened to be a head of long black hair belonging to a teenage girl. And so it came to be that, feeling a bug land in her hair, Blake Belladonna waved it away in mild annoyance, not even falling out of step as she and Yang Xiao Long walked side by side through the streets of Vale.

Blake looked sideways at Yang. She hadn't know the girl for very long; it had been less then a week ago that the two had partnered up to take down a pair of Ursae in the Emerald Forest. The two had... perhaps "bonded" was a strong word at this point, but formed at least some level of kindship over, for lack of anything better, shared competence; recognizing each other as capable fighters, they had reached a mutual (and mostly unspoken) decision to stick together. They shared a team now, and while Blake had gotten a fairly good sense of what she could expect from Ruby and Weiss (she still found it eerily ironic that she was now sleeping eight feet away from a member of the Schnee family) as teammates, Yang still vexed her somewhat.

On the surface, Blake had, in her current opinion, misread Yang as something of a flake; vivacious and energetic, but perhaps somewhat dimwitted and chaotic. The experience in the forest, however, had allowed Blake to see that despite her boisterous nature, there was a kind of depth to Yang that had been initially hidden. Not only was she actually very bright, but she seemed to show a strong nurturing, almost maternal instinct to her little sister. Perhaps this was only the result of a lot of paranoid instinct, but Blake felt the need to get to know all three of her teammates as well as she could, for safety's sake if nothing else.

For Yang's part, Blake assumed that she was just as curious, hence her suggestion that today, the first day that Team RWBY had been unburdened of classes since arriving at Beacon Academy, the two of them "hit the town". While Blake somewhat doubted that they shared many of the same interests in activities, this worked well as a nice excuse to get to know the big, bubbly blonde a bit better.

Blake and Yang came to a stop at an intersection. "Well?" asked Yang brightly, throwing her arms open. "Whaddya think? Grab some lunch maybe?"

Blake looked at Yang and shrugged. "Sure."

"Pizza?"

"Maybe."

"Pizza and Ice Cream?"

"Ew."

"Well, yeah, not at the same time..."

Blake shrugged again. She generally preferred something a bit quieter than a pizza parlor when eating out - coffee shops were nice - but she could make a concession.

Yang led the way across the street, Blake following behind. They made the next couple blocks in silence, looking around at the surrounding buildings. They passed by a mattress store that had a snoozing Boarbatusk on the sign, a burger joint (Cunningly named "Hamburger", Blake had roll her eyes at that one), a car dealership, a bookstore named "Tukson's Book Trade", a Dust shop with boarded-up windows that looked like it had recently been broken-

Blake stopped in her tracks, doing a double-take. She craned her neck around, looking back the way they had come with a surprised expression. Yang stopped and looked back at her. "Blake? What's up?"

Yang followed Blake's gaze back to the bookstore she was staring at. The sign read "Tukson's Book Trade: Home to Every Book under the Sun." Blake was mouthing the title and tagline in silence.

 _It couldn't be..._ Blake thought to herself, staring at the sign. _But books... it can't be that big of a coincidence..._

"Hey! Blake! You... wanna stop in there? Grab some books?"

Blake looked around at Yang. "Yes. Why don't you go on? I could be a while. I'll meet you there."

Yang looked at Blake for a second. Blake could tell she suspected that there was something unsaid going on, but nevertheless kept her expression blank.

"Okay." said Yang. "Don't buy too many, your eyes will fall out."

Blake gave a small smile. "I won't."

As Yang walked away, Blake turned her attention back to the store and approached slowly, almost like she was afraid it was going to bite her. It occurred to her that this actually was quite risky... but she had to be sure. As she approached the door, she reached for the handle, then hesitated. _He wouldn't... tell Adam? Would he?_ She bit her lip, thinking hard. _No... no. Not Tukson. He wouldn't. But... would he even be happy to see me? Would he yell at me? I don't think so..._

A hobo, lying on the sidewalk, had been watching her stand indecisively in front of the door for thirty seconds. "God, lady!" he slurred. "It's a book store, not a marriage proposal! Make up your freakin' mind!"

Blake looked at the tramp in momentary surprise, then looked down at the handle again, took a breath, and grabbed it.

The inside of the store was a bit dim, though somewhat roomy, and, as one could expect, stocked with an ample supply of books. There was the sound of something heavy moving under the counter. A bell above the door chimed as Blake entered, and a man's deep voice from under the counter spoke:

"Welcome! I'll be with you in a moment!"

Blake panicked slightly in her head; the voice was familiar, it was him, and this was happening more quickly then she thought it would. She considered running, but didn't have time to reach a decision before the large, burly man stood up and saw her.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every... book..."

Tukson stared at Blake, blinking quickly. "Wait a minute... Blake?"

Not smiling, Blake stood as still as a rock in front of the door for a moment, then waved meekly. "Hey, Tukson." she said quietly. Tukson watched Blake in silence for a moment as she took a few steps forward, halfway reaching the counter. She stopped when something unexpected happened: Tukson's face was illuminated in a huge smile. "HAHAHAHA!" he bellowed. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU WEREN'T DEAD!"

Whatever Blake had been expecting, it hadn't been this, nor had it been for Tukson to suddenly vault over the counter, cross the distance in two strides and seize Blake in an enormous hug. She yelped in surprise as he lifted her clear off the ground, popping her back in the crushing grip while he continued to laugh heartily.

After he finally dropped her, she stumbled back, coughing a bit, and asked, "What do you-" *koff* "-mean, dead?"

Tukson's face fell slightly, but he recovered his smile immediately. "That's what Adam was saying. It's the official word; you were gunned down by droids on the train. But quite a few of us who knew you didn't buy it. We assumed you found a way out, and bailed on Taurus. Was it true?"

"Yes. I left him behind on the train."

"HA!" Tukson clapped his hands once and turned away, grinning. "I knew it! Oh, Blake, you should have seen the look on his face, it was price-"

Turning around again, Tukson stopped at the sight of Blake, who was looking down at the floor with a concerned expression, arms folded in an expression of discomfort.

"...I'm sorry. I know, for you, it was probably more complicated than that. I just... well, you know I've never really approved of Adam's methods."

"No, I know. It's fine, I just... was he mad?"

Tukson laughed again, though more bitterly. "Was he mad? He was furious. He tried to hide it, but not very well."

They stood in quiet for a moment. The clock on the wall was ticking very loudly. Blake looked at it, watching the longest hand twitch from one dash to another, second after second. Tukson leaned back against the counter.

"...So... while you're here, can I get you anything? Water?" he hesitated. "Um... food? A place to crash?"

She smiled. "No, I'm fine. I have a place to live, I'm doing alright."

"Good. I wasn't sure. I figured it would be touch and go for you, no money, no friends outside..."

"Are you..." she gave him a searching look. "You're still with them, right?"

"...Ah... yes. I am."

They stared at each other for a moment before Tukson spoke again. "I won't tell..."

"I know." she said quickly, interrupting him. "I know you won't, it's okay."

Tukson smiled again. "Well... pull up a chair! Let's catch up!"

"I can't. Sorry. I'm supposed to meet someone. I might have a busy weekend, but I'll come around on the next one, first thing."

"Promise?"

She smiled. "Promise."


	2. Volume 1: Blake & Tukson (II)

The back room of Tukson's Book Trade was even darker, with the only windows very high up, and opening into an alley. It was dusty, and there were still a few unpacked boxes lying around, one of them currently seating Blake Belladonna. Twiddling her thumbs, she waited, watching the door until Tukson entered, bringing two steaming cups of tea with him.

"There we are. I seem to recall this being an old favorite of yours."

"Always." said Blake, taking the offered cup while Tukson sat down on another box opposite.

"Sorry the place is so sparse. Haven't really had the money for furniture yet; just stocking the shelves nearly left me broke."

"Is this place new?" Blake asked, looking around.

"New-ish. I've been running it almost a month."

"How did you afford it?"

"Oh, I've been building a pretty little nest egg for years, since before I met you... well, not by much, but still."

She gave him a smile. "It suits you. You always did love books."

"I seem to recall we have that in common. Listen, as far as you're concerned, I want you to think of this place as a library. Call it the old friend's discount."

"Thanks." She was smiling more then she had in quite a while. It was almost as though nothing had changed... although, Blake reflected, she was glad it had.

"So where are you these days?" Tukson asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Beacon Academy."

Tukson choked on his tea. "Wow! Talk about moving up in the world! HA, Blake, I can't think of anywhere in the world that fits you more!"

"Really? I wasn't sure..."

"What? You, not sure about what you're doing with your life? I don't believe it for a second."

"No, no, that's not what I mean. I want to train, become stronger, fight for justice. I know all of that."

"You always did."

"I mean, the whole... _school_ setting. Exposing myself like that, living a lie..."

"Oh. I see. I'm afraid I can't really help with that."

"It's fine. It's going pretty well, actually. I have a good team. I get good grades. I like it."

"You're making friends, then?"

"A few."

Tukson gave her an odd look, a smile slowly growing across his face.

"...What?"

"Nothing. Just..." he held up his hands theatrically. "Blake Belladonna, Huntress!"

"Sounds nice, right?"

"I think it sounds like _you_ , Blake. I remember, you've been talking about fixing the world, this great broken thing it is, ever since I could lift you with one arm."

It was Blake's turn to smile again. "Let's be honest, Tukson, you can still lift me with one arm."

Tukson gave a hearty laugh, while Blake stood up and walked around the dusty storage room. "You don't have a backdoor," she observed. "Is there an exit upstairs?"

She had spotted a staircase in a foyer between the front and back areas of the store, which she assumed led up to where Tukson was living.

"No, just roof access." He drained what was left of his tea. "Front entrance is all I need, right?"

"I don't know... that doesn't seem safe. What if you need to get out the back?" She was now looking at the high, narrow windows, which seemed too small for even her to get through.

"What, you mean if there's a fire?"

"Or if you're attacked."

Tukson laughed again. "Who would attack me here?"

Blake turned to give him a concerned look. Tukson sighed.

"Blake, I'm going to be fine, relax." he stood up, grinning. "If anyone ever bothers me, I'll just let them know I'm friends with the best Huntress-in-training in Vale! Now, come on up front, I wanted to show you some of the new inventory."

The sunset over Beacon Academy was always stunning, reflecting off of the emerald-tinted windows and striping the courtyard in long shadows. Blake sat high above the view, admiring it from a narrow, curved ledge on the side of the main tower. The ledge had caught her attention for it's seclusion; there appeared to be no visible way to get onto it, no doors, hatches or windows. Even Blake had only gotten up with some help from Gambol Shroud and no small amount of agility.

She considered the solitude to be worthwile, however. Although she had very much enjoyed the last month spent with Team RWBY (She was discovering how very difficult it was not to be overcome with team spirit when that team was led by Ruby Rose), she still found that there were most certainly times when she needed her privacy. Between Ruby's energy, Weiss's occassionally antagonistic attitude, and Yang's insistence that something fun be going on _all the time_ , she was finding her newfound friendships to be rather... draining.

And yet, paradoxically, it was in these moments of quiet that she found herself unable to think of anything else besides Ruby, Weiss and Yang. She was finding herself getting increasingly sucked into this new life she had chosen for herself. She kept telling herself this was a good thing, and yet... something wouldn't stop bothering her... she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something creeping up on her, something that she wouldn't see coming until it was right behind her...

"Good evening, Ms. Belladonna."

Blake jumped to her feet and whirled around. "AH! Professor Ozpin!"

And there he stood, cane and all, on the same curved ledge she had thought so inaccessible.

"I'm sorry if I startled you." he said calmly.

"How did you get up here!?"

He smiled. "A headmaster has his ways."

The gravity of who she was talking to set in very suddenly. This was the first time she had actually spoken directly to Professor Ozpin. She was a bit unsure what to expect. "You seem contemplative," he said. "Anything I can help with?"

"No, it's nothing." She paused awkwardly. "Thank you anyway."

Ozpin looked around. "This is a good place to be with your thoughts. I come up occasionally, and tell myself I'm keeping an eye on my students. It's quite silly, of course. Most of them are indoors, and I can't really see them from here... but it's comforting, I suppose." He looked back down at her. "And yourself?"

"I... guess it's a quiet place to read."

He smiled. "Yes. In a school with a large library and dozens of vacant classrooms, I imagine quiet reading spots are hard to come by."

She stared at the courtyard below, watching several butterflies make their final rounds around the flowerbeds as the sun set. She could feel Ozpin's searching gaze. _What is he after? Does he know what I'm hiding? Does he suspect?_

"Fascinating creatures."

Blake looked at him in surprise. "What? Which ones?"

"The butterflies. You were looking at them."

"Oh... of course."

"They change everything about themselves. Shed everything that they used to be, even leave their very bodies behind. And do you know what, Blake?"

She didn't answer, just watching him in silence as he continued:

"I think they come out stronger for the experience."

"I... suppose?"

Ozpin chuckled. Blake felt a bit confused. She supposed she had missed something important.

"Well, I'll leave you to your thoughts, Ms. Belladonna."

Blake looked back out across the courtyard. _Well that was... different. Odd. But... I guess there was supposed to be a lesson in there? I'm not sure I understand... maybe I should just ask._

She turned around. "Professor Oz-"

He was gone.


	3. Volume 1: Blake & Tukson (III)

The calm sea lapped against the docks as Blake and Tukson sat, hands on their fishing poles, with their backs to each other, on opposite sides of the dock. They both found fishing very calming, and the quiet, balmy day had seemed like the perfect opportunity to enjoy a bit of it. The sky overhead was a moderate blue, speckled with a vague smattering of clouds.

Blake waved her hanging legs idly, gazing quietly into the mild surf. In her formative years, there had been times when food could be scarce, and every able body would have to work together to bring as much possible back to the larger camps; hunting, trapping, and fishing were talents she had developed from a very young age. Due to the risk of Grimm attacks however, no one had ever gone for food without a group present, and as a result, Blake had grown thoroughly accustomed to fishing with company.

Nowadays, she didn't really like to fish alone.

Tukson chuckled softly.

"What?" Blake asked, not turning around.

"Oh, I was just thinking back. You remember how we met?"

"Hard to forget. Didn't I almost get you killed?"

"More or less, but I'm not one to hold grudges."

Tukson looked up at the sky, thinking. "Now let's see... it would have been... almost four years ago now?"

"That's right. Our camps had joined up-"

"Just southeast of Mistral, that's right. On the coast."

"Yeah. I remember it was the first time I had stayed on a beach for that long, an entire week. My group had just gotten away after running into a Deathstalker nest, and some of us needed medical attention, including me."

"That's right. You had a pretty nasty slash in your side."

"It could have been worse."

Tukson sighed. "I remember... seeing you hurt, you specifically, bothered me. I didn't know you yet, but the... it made me uncomfortable, seeing that we were recruiting fighters that young."

"I'm not your average fighter."

"I know, but I had no way of seeing that at the time. I saw a thirteen-year-old girl who'd nearly been murdered by a monster from a nightmare, crying and bleeding everywhere..."

"I was fourteen."

"Same difference. I went to you first, put pressure on the wound, all the first aid basics. You were going in and out of consciousness- in hindsight, I'm pretty sure you had a minor concussion- so I just tried to keep you talking, and focused."

"I remember... sort of. That part's a little fuzzy."

"I asked your name first."

"Right! Okay, now it's coming back. I remember feeling guilty later that I hadn't asked yours. Of course, I also remember being in a lot of pain."

"Hey, I'm no doctor. I just knew I bit about medicine from what I'd read. We've always done our best with medics. Don't exactly find a lot of trained professionals sympathetic to the cause, especially considering how few Faunus manage to become doctors."

"You did alright. Saved me."

"Yes, I did. Saved most of 'em, in fact." His tone was rather proud, but a little sad at the same time. "Most of them..."

They were both quiet for a couple minutes.

After a little while, Blake continued.

"Once I was awake, you came to see me."

"And you even remembered to ask my name this time." he chuckled.

"I couldn't get up and move around, so you kept me company."

"Mmm-hmm. I remember we talked about our families, about how different Mistral was from where we were from... and then, I remember you asked me why I joined."

"That was where things took an interesting turn."

"Yep. When I explained to you why I was there and wanted to help, but didn't want to fight, you were pretty confused. I had to explain the entire concept of a conscientious objector, about how I was just there because there were Faunus- because there were _people_ who needed my help, and didn't have many other people to help them, but I _didn't_ agree with all the violence and the fighting. How I was willing to patch people up, even to fight Grimm, but I flat _refused_ to lay a hand on a single human being." Tukson gave another of his hearty laughs. "And then you got mad!"

Blake sighed. "Yep. I did. Made a huge fuss, woke up the whole tent-"

"-almost tore your stitches off-"

"-demanding to know how you could possibly abandon your people like that, calling you a traitor..."

Tukson was still laughing. Blake craned her head over to look at him. "I guess it seems funny now, considering. But I was _so_ mad..."

Tukson wiped a tear from his eye, his laughter winding down. "No, I'll be honest, it was kind of funny even then. This little teenager with a hole in her gut, wincing and yelling at me and hissing and spitting... sadly ironic, I guess... oh, and then I got kicked out of my own med tent, so that you could get some rest..."

"It didn't work. I was awake the whole night, I was _fuming_. I couldn't comprehend how you could take such a stance. I just... didn't understand. Back then."

Tukson grinned broadly. "Heh... and you remember what happened the next day, right?"

"Now _that_ definitely wasn't funny."

"Well, anything can be funny with hindsight. Now let's seeeee... what was I doing... oh, right, I was checking up on that old woman with the sprained neck when the scouts came back. Everyone was packing up and getting ready to roll on out, and a few had been sent to make sure the road was safe."

"It wasn't."

"Yep. Local P.D. had set up a huge barricade on the road, a big manned checkpoint. Obviously no way we were getting through. The guys in charge started trying to think up a plan, while everyone else started gossiping. And you know how it gets when scared people start gossiping..."

Blake sighed again. "Yes, I do. Fingers start getting pointed."

"Every. Single. Time. The entire camp was muttering about how the cops had _no_ way of knowing where we were, how there _had_ to be a traitor amongst our ranks."

He looked back over his shoulder to smirk at Blake while she facepalmed in embarrassment. "And of course," Tukson continued, "you know _exactly_ who to call out, didn't you?"

Blake groaned. "Oh man... I ran around the camp, telling anyone and everyone that you had to be the traitor, because it was so obvious..."

Tukson was laughing again as he put on a falsetto voice: "Don't you all understand! It's Tukson, that medic, Tukson! He admitted it to me last night!"

Blake still had her face hidden in her hand. "I was ranting like a lunatic."

"Yeah, you were. It would've been kind of adorable if people didn't almost immediately start to believe you..." Tukson stopped smiling. "I actually thought they were just going to execute me right there. They would have if the boss hadn't stepped in."

"Ash." Blake set, remembering the heavyset, weasel-eared faunus who had been in charge of that group.

"Thank god he gave me a chance to explain, huh? I told him everything, explained my role in the organization and how you were too young to understand..."

"He sat me down later, explained how conscientious objectors worked and why there was nothing wrong with it, and why we were so reliant on people like you."

She looked over at him. "Tukson, I'm sorry. I know I've said it before, but I really am sorry."

He looked over as well, and smiled. "Ah well. All's well that ends well. At least I got a lifelong friend out of the ordeal!"

Blake smiled and rolled her eyes, before they both returned to their fishing.

More clouds rolled in as the day ran on. An overcast sheet was quickly covering up their sunny day. After another half hour of silence, a question occurred to Blake as she stared down at the vague blur that was her reflection.

"Hey..."

"Hm?"

"Do you believe in pure evil?"

"Do you?"

"No."

"What about the Grimm?"

"The Grimm aren't sapient."

"I'm not sure about that. I've heard things..."

"Okay, but I mean aside from the Grimm. People."

Tukson didn't say anything for a while. Figuring that he was mulling his answer over, Blake waited in silence, kicking her feet again. Finally, Tukson took a deep breath and spoke.

"I don't know. I know that there are bad people out there, and lots of them. I don't know how many of them are irredeemable. I like to tell myself that there's always at least _something_ in there, even if it's deep down enough to be invisible. That no matter how remorseless or ruthless or greedy someone is, that it must be rooted in some belief, some kind of ethos. But how would I know? I've never actually _met_ true evil, I believe that. But if you want to know whether it exists or not, I think you're asking the wrong faunus, kiddo. Sorry."

"Fair enough." was all Blake had to say. She looked up at the increasingly cloudy sky, only to yelp in surprise as a cold raindrop hit her forehead. Tukson looked over to see what was wrong, and saw Blake quickly packing her things up. Feeling a drop hit his shoulder, he sighed. "Well, I guess that means it's time to roll out. Let's get back to the shop, c'mon."

After hurriedly getting their things together, Blake and Tukson were lucky enough to make in back quickly, before the rain got too bad. Tukson opened the door one-handed. "You coming in?"

"No. I should get back to school, check in with my team."

Tukson looked at her for a moment.

"...What?" asked Blake.

"These friends of yours... I kept meaning to ask, do they know about..." he pointed to the top of her head, to her bow.

"Oh... no, they don't."

"Are you going to tell them?"

"I should get going." Blake said in a hurry. "Bye, Tukson." she jogged off, trying to make it to overhead cover. Tukson watched her go for a moment, looking concerned, before he headed inside.


End file.
